Unit cooler



Feb. 3, 195 I w. w. BRADFIELDY ETAL 2,871,677

UNIT COOLER 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 1, 1955 |l||||||| ||l II ll I I l l l l l I I l l l l MW pww 1959 w. w. BRADFIELD ET AL 2,871,677

UNIT COOLER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 1, 1955 INVENTORS.

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' nited States Patent ()fiice 2,871,677 Patented Feb. 3, 1953 2,871,677 UNIT COOLER William W. Bradfield, Oak Park, and Russell E. Anderson, Chicago, Ill., assignors to Rigidbilt Inc., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application September 1, 1955, Serial No, 532,007

12 Claims. (Cl. 62-285) This invention relates to cooling devices, and has to do with a cooling unit particularly suitable for cooling the interior of truck bodies, though it may be used for other purposes.

Our invention is directed to a cooling unit adapted to be mounted Within a truck body, conveniently at one end thereof, which may be positioned at or adjacent the roof of the body and occupies a position such that it does not project objectionably into the loading space of the body. The unit of our invention is so constructed that when mounted in the truck body it assures more nearly uniform distribution of cooled air throughout the interior of the truck body than can be obtained by any of the cooling units presently in use with which we are familiar. More specifically, the cooling unit of our invention is of sub stantially elongated rectangular or oblong shape in plan and is provided at each end with a discharge fan which, when the unit is properly positioned within the truck body, is disposed adjacent a side wall of the truck body, there being thus a fan adjacent each side wall, which is conducive to uniform distribution of the cooled air within the truck body. In the cooling unit of our invention the air to be cooled is drawn from the interior of the truck body inwardly of the housing of the unit across a cooling coil'so that the air thus has an opportunity to flow over the coolingcoil for substantially. the full length thereof thereby cooling a larger volume of air than is cooled when the air is forcibly blown across the jcoil in more or less localized zones. A further important feature of our invention is the provision of separate chambers or spaces which receive the cooled air and respectively communicate with the fan chambers so that each of the fans draws air to be cooled inwardly across the cooling coil for approximately one-half the length there'- of. A further object of our invention is to provide a drain pan beneath the cooling coil for receiving condensate therefrom this pan having associated therewith drainage means whereby adequate drainage of the drain pan is assured at all times regardless of the tilting of' the truck body in various directions during travel thereof. Further objects and advantages of our invention will appear from the detail description.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a coolingunit mounted in a truck body in accordance with our invention, the front and the side walls of the truck body being shown fragmentarily and in section;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a front view of the cooling unit shown in Figures 1 and 2; i

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 4-4 of Figure 3, certain parts being shown in elevation; Figure 5 is a plan view of a modified form of cooling unit embodying our invention;

Figure 6 is a front view of the coolingunit of Figure 5; Figure 7 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 77 of Figure 5, certain parts being shown inelevation;

Figure 8ris a front view of a second modified form of cooling unit embodying our invention;

Figure 9 is a rear view of the unit of Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 10-10 of Figure 8;

Figure 11 is a front view of a third modified form of cooling unit embodying our invention; and

Figure 12 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 12-12 of Figure 11. r

In Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings we have shown fragmentarily and in section a truckbody 20, which may be of conventional type, having side walls 21 and a front wall 22 connected by a top or roof 23. A cooling unit 24, embodying our invention, is mounted within truck body 21 at the front wall 22 thereof in a suitable manner, conveniently by means of angle brackets 25 secured to the inner face of wall 22 and angle brackets 26 secured to the back wall of unit 24. I

The unit 24 comprises a box like housing of elongated rectangular or oblong shape in plan, conveniently con structed of sheet metal and havingat each end a sub stantially cubiform fan chamber 29. A core 30 of less height than the chambers 29, extends therebetween. The core 30 comprises flanged headers 31 constituting the inner sides of the fan chambers 29, and a finned cooling coil 32 extending between and mounted in the headers, the coil 32 being positioned a substantial distance below the top of the headers, i. e., below the tops of the fan chambers 29. A flanged partition member 33 extends across core 30 at the midlength thereof and projects a substantial distance therebelow. The back of core 30 and the backof the fan chambers 29,are closed by a back wall or panel 34 of appropriate size and shape provided at its upper edge with aninwardly extendingflange 35 fitting between the headers 31 and overlying therear edge. portion of core 30. Panel 34 is-further provided at its lower edge with an inwardly extending flange 36 for the full length thereof which engages beneath the rearward portion of partition member 33 and the rearward portions of the outer side walls of the fan chambers 29. The front wall or panel member 37, provided with relatively narrow top and bottom flanges 38 and 39, respectively, closes the front of core 30 and is disposed with flange 39 extending beneath partition member 33 and flange 38 overlying core 30, the latter flange being notched at its ends to accommodate the headers 31. Panel 37 is secured to the headers 31 in a suitable manner, conveniently by means of self threading sheet metal screws. An oblong drain pan 40 fits about the body portion of the housing comprising the fan chambers 29, core 30, and panels 34 and 37, to which it is secured in a suitable manner, conveniently by means of self threading sheet metal screws. The drain pan thus provides the bottom wall of the housing and the cooling coil 32 is supported a substantial distance above the drain pan providing a space which is separated by the partition member 33 into two chambers 41 and 42 underlying coil 32 and opening at their outer ends into the fan chambers 29 at the lower portionsof the inner sides thereof. I It will be understood, from what has been said, that the cooling coil 32 is closed at its front and at its back by the panels 37 and 34, respectively, is open at its top for entry of air to be cooled, and opens at its bottom into thecooled Panel 46 is provided with a circularopening through which extends a cylindrical fan shroud 47 provided at its outer end with a circumferential flange seating on and secured to panel 46 at the outer face thereof. Shroud 47 extends about a multi-bladed axial discharge fan 48 of suitable known type secured on the armature shaft of an electric motor 49 secured between fingers t depending from the ends of a rectangular mounting plate 51. The plate 51 seats on the underface of rectangular bight portion 52 of a hanger 53 having arms 54 diverging upwardly from opposite sides of bight 52 and provided at their upper ends with outwardly extending flanges 55 seating on the underface of top wall 56 of fan chamber 29 and suitably secured thereto. The plate 51 is removably secured, conveniently by bolt and nut means, to bight portion 52 of hanger 53. It will be seen that by removing the front panel 46 of fan chamber 2'9 and releasing plate 51 from bight portion 52 of hanger 5.3, the fan 48 and its associated motor 49 and mounting plate 51 may readily be removed and replaced as a unit, as may be required.

The fans 48 are driven in opposite direction such that the blades of each fan travel upwardly away from the outer ends of the corresponding cooled air receiving chamber 41. We have found that that is conducive to increased flow of air in that it avoids any tendency for the fan to crowd air back into the cooled air receiving chamber such as appears to occur if the fans are driven in the opposite direction, i. e., so that the fanblades travel downward toward the outer ends of the cooled air receiving passages. Referring further to Figures 1 and 2, itwill be noted that the fans 48 are disposed adjacent the side walls of the truck body and discharge the air forwardly of the cooling unit, that is, lengthwise of the truck body and initially parallel with the side walls. As the cooled air travels lengthwise of the truck body it spreads toward the center thereof with the result that the cooled air is distributed substantially uniformly throughout the interior of the truck body. The condensate from the coil 32 drips downwardly into the pan 40 and, to a large extent, is entrained by the cooled air flowing thereover and returned to the interior of the truck body. That is desirable in certain cases, particularly where the contents of the truck body is of such character that dehydration thereof should be avoided. In order to guard against possibility of spillage of condensate out of the pan 40, we provide at each end of the drip pan a fitting 59 of substantially Y-shape the upper ends of the arms 60 of which are attached in a suitable known manner to nipples 61 secured to pan 40 and opening into the latter adjacent the corners thereof. The truck body during transit is subject to tilting in forward and rearward directions as well as from side to side. By providing the fittings 59 at the ends of the pan 40 assurance is had that condensate which may collect in the pan is drained off through the fittings 59 regardless of the direction of tilting of the truck body. A flexible hose 62 is attached to the neck of fitting 59 and led to a suitable point of discharge, preferably an opening through the floor of the truck body.

The modified form of unit shown in Figures 5 to 7, inclusive, is similar to that of Figures 1 to 4, inclusive, but the housing is of uniform height and comprises end fan chambers 65, a core 66 extending between the chambers 65 and having end headers 67 constituting the inner side walls of fan chambers 65, a back panel 68 extending between and closing the back of the housing as well as backs of the fan chambers the fronts of which are closed by the panels 69, a top panel 7%) closing the top of core 66 and the tops of the fan chambers 65, and a drip or drain pan 71 secured to the body of the housing and providing the bottom wall thereof, pan 71 being provided at each end thereof with a drain fitting 59 as before. The core 66 includes a finned cooling coil 72 of known type extending between the headers 67 and is of a width approximately one-half the interior width of the housing, as will be clear from Figure 5. Further, the coil 72 extends from the pan 71 to the top panel 74 and defines with that panel in combination with back panel 68 and pan 71 a space opening at its ends into the fan chambers 65 at the back thereof, such space being separated by a partition member 73, at the midlength of coil 72 and extending rearward therebeyond to the back panel 68, into two cooled air receiving chambers 74 opening at their outer ends into the fan chambers 65 respectively. It will be seen, from what has been said that the cooling coil 72 is open at its front for entry of air to be cooled and is open at its back for delivery of cooled air to the cooled air receiving chambers 74. A fan 48 is mounted in each of the fan chambers 65 in the manner previously described and discharges forwardly of the housing for delivery of the cool air to the interior of the truck body. Brackets 75, conveniently of channel cross section, slotted at their ends, are secured to the housing and provide means for suspending the unit from the roof of the truck body adjacent the end thereof as'and for the purposes previously described.

The modified form of unit shown in Figures 8 to 10, inclusive, is similar to that shown in Figures 5 to 7, inclusive, except that the core 66 is disposed at the back of the unit, the front of the unit between the fan chambers 65a is closed by a front panel 78, the partition member 73 at the midlength of coil 72 extends forwardly beyond the coil to the panel 78, and the backs of the fan charnbers 65a are closed by panels 79. The coil 72 is open at its back for entry of air to be cooled and is open at its front for delivery of cooled air to the cooled air receiving chambers which open at their outer ends into the fan chambers 65a respectively at the forward portions thereof. It will be noted that the channel brackets 75 project a material distance rearwardly beyond the housing of the unit, as well as forwardly thereof, which assures that the unit will be spaced away from the end wall of the truck body sufiiciently to assure free admission to the cooling coil of air to be cooled withdrawn from the interior of the truck body. It is thought that the operation of the unit will be readily understood from the above and need not be described in greater detail.

The modified form of unit shown in Figures 11 and 12 is similar, in certain respects, to that shown in Figures 1 to 4, inclusive. It comprises a box-like housing of elongated rectangular or oblong shape in plan provided at each end with a fan chamber 83 in which is mounted a fan 48 discharging forwardly of the housing, as previously described. A core 84 extends between the fan chambers 83, this core comprising a cooling coil 85 mounted at its ends in headers 86 constituting the inner side walls of the fan chambers 83. A back panel 87, of uniform width, closes the backs of the fan chambers 83 and the back of core 84. A front panel 88, also of uniform height the same as that of back panel 87, extends between the fan chambers 83 and closes the front of core 84. A top panel. 89 extends between the. fan chambers 83 and between the front andback panels 88 and 87, respectively, closing the top of the body portion of the housing. The top panel 89 is disposed a substantial distance above the core 84 and the latter is provided with a central partition member 90 extending thereabove to the top panel 89 providing, above core 84, two cooled air receiving chambers 91 opening at their outer ends into the upper portion of the fan chambers 83 respectively. 7

Still referring to Figures 11 and 12, the headers 86 extend downwardly beyond core 84 and the back and front panels 87 and 88, respectively. A louvered drip pan 92 is supported by.-the headers 86 beneath core 84 and constitutes the bottom wall structure of the housing. The pan 92 comprises a plurality of downwardly and forwardly inclined louvers 93 supported by angle brackets 94 secured thereto, the upper ends of which are hooked over an upwardly bent fla'nge'95 of a hanger96 the upper end of which is hooked over an upwardly bent flange at .the lower end of the respective headers 86. The brackets 94 are removably secured to the hangers 96 'by: bolt and nut means and the hangers 96 are similarly secured 'to the headers 86, for ready removal and replacement of the louvers as may be required. The lower rearward portion of each louver 93 is curved forwardly and upwardly to provide a trough 98 which opens at its ends into header troughs 99 extending the .full

width of the unit and suspended therefrom by mounting brackets 101. Each of the header troughs 99 is provided at each end thereof with a drain nipple 100 a'nd a drainage fitting 59 is attached to the nipples 100 as'and for the purpose previously described. Suitablemeans (not shown) may be provided .for suspending the unit from the roof of the truck body adjacent an end wall thereof. In the operation of the unit, air'to be cooled is withdrawn from the interior of the truck body andpasses upwardly through the cooling, coil 85, the cooled air flowing through the cooled air receiving chambers 91 into the fan chambers. and being'discharged therefrom into the truck body in the manner previously described.

Itvwill be understood that in'all of the forms shown of the cooling unit of our invention one end of the cooling coil is connected'to one side of a compressor which delivers the compressed refrigerantito a condenser discharging into" areceiver the outlet of which is connected t'o-the'other side of the cooling coil by a conduit including an expansion valve; as 'is usual. Cooling or refrigerating systems of this character are well known and require no detailed description, nor is it thought necessary to illustrate such a system in view of the fact that our invention is concerned primarily with the cooling unit and not with the cooling system as a whole.

It will be understood that changes may be made in detail without departing from the field and scope of our invention, and we intend to include all such variations, as fall within the scope .of the appended claims, in this application in which the preferred forms only of our invention have been disclosed.

We claim:

1. In truck cooling means, a truck body substantially rectangular in plan and comprising an end wall, side walls extending from said end wall, and a top wall connecting said end and side walls; and a cooling unit within said body in proximity to said end and top walls, said unit comprising a pair of fan chambers disposed adjacent the two corners defined by said top, end and side walls of the truck body, a cooling core extending between said fan chambers open at one side along its length to receive air from the truck body, and open at its opposite side for discharge of air passing through the cooling core, said core being closed along its other two sides and at its two ends adjacent the two fan chambers, an enclosed cooled-air-receiving chamber extending lengthwise of said opposite open side of the cooling core and adapted to receive air as it passes through the cooling core and channel it lengthwise of the core to the ends thereof, said cooled air-receiving chamber having communication through its opposed ends into the two fan chambers, and fans in said two fan chambers for discharging air into the truck body away from said end wall and along paths substantially parallel with said side walls whereby air is drawn by the action of said fans from the interior of the truck through the open side of the cooling core and cooled as it is passed therethrough and lengthwise of said core into the fan chambers via the cooled-air-receiving chamber so as to be returned to the interior of the truck.

2. In truck cooling means, a cooling unit as claimed in claim 1 further having partition means at the midlength of said core extending into and dividing said cooled-airreceiving chamber into two sections each having communication with a separate one of said fan chambers.

3. In a cooling unit for truck bodies, a housing substantially oblong in plan and of substantially rectangular cross-section having a fan chamber at each end thereof, said housing containing a core including a cooling coil disposed intermediate the two end fan chambers and lengthwise of the housing, said core having one side constituting a wallof the housing, said side being open to receive air from exteriorly of the housing and the core being open alongits opposite side for discharge of air entering from said first mentioned side and passing through the coil, the remaining two sides of the core and its two ends adjacent the end fan chambers being closed, and said housing having wall means forming with said opposite open side of the core a cooled-airreceiving chamber extending along the length of the core and having communication through its opposite ends into the two end fan chambers, said fan chambers each having a discharge opening to exterior of the housing whereby fans mounted -in said chamber to discharge through said openings will cause air to enter through said one side of the core, pass through the coil into the cooled-air-receiving chamber and lengthwise of the core out the ends of said cooled-air-receiving chamber into the fan chambers and out through the discharge openings to exteriorly of the housing. 4. A cooling unit for truck bodies comprising a housing having an enclosed fan chamber at each end thereof, said housing containing. a coreincluding a cooling coil disposed intermediate the two end fan chambers and lengthwise of the housing, said core having one side constituting a wall of the housing, said side being open to receive air from exteriorly of the housing and the core being open along its opposite side for discharge of air entering from said first mentioned side and passing through the coil, the remaining two sides of the core and its two ends adjacent the end fan chamber being closed, wall means forming with said opposite open side of the core a cooled-air-receiving-chamber extending along the length of the core and having communication through its opposite ends into the two end fan chambers, said fan chambers each having a discharge opening to exterior of the housing, and fans mounted in said chamber which discharge through said openings whereby air will be caused to enter through said one side of the core, pass through the coil into the cooled-air-receiving chamber and lengthwise of hte core out the ends of said cooled-air-receiving chamber into the fan chambers'and through the discharge openings to exteriorly of the housing.

5. A cooling unit for truck bodies comprising a housing having an enclosed fan chamber at each end thereof, said housing containing a core including a cooling coil disposed intermediate the two end fan chambers and terminating in closed ends adjacent the fan chambers, said core having 'one side constituting a wall of the housing, said side being open to receive air from exteriorly of the housing and the core being open along its opposite side for discharge of air entering from said first mentioned side and passing through the coil, the remaining two sides of the core and its two ends adjacent the end fan chamber being closed, said housing having wall means forming an enclosed space about the opposite open side of the core corresponding to substantially the Width and length of the core, and baffle means midway of the core extending into and dividing said space into two separate cool-air-receiving chambers, each of said chambers having communication through its outer end into a respective one of the two end fan chambers, said fan chambers each having a discharge opening to exterior of the housing, and fans mounted in said chambers which discharge through said openings whereby air will be caused to enter through said one side of the core, pass through the coil into the cooled-air-receiving chambers and lengthwise of the core out the ends of said cooled-air-receiving chambers into the respective fan chambers and through the discharge openings thereof to exteriorly of the housing.

6. A cooling unit fontruck' bodies as claimed in claim 5 wherein the fans are of the multi-bladed axial discharge type, and are driven in opposite directions such that the blades thereof travel upwardly away from the respective ends of the cooled air receiving chamber having communication with the fan chambers in which the fans are mounted.

7. A cooling unit for truck bodies as claimed in claim 5 wherein the cooling core has its first mentioned open side constituting the top wall of the housing and which is spaced below the uppermost extent of the two end fan chambers, and the housing having a bottom wall constituting part of the cooled-air-receiving chamber and which is further formed as a drip pan for receiving condensate from the cooling coil.

8. A cooling unit for truck bodies as claimed in claim 5 wherein the first mentioned open side of the core constitutes the front wall of the housing and the other threeside walls of the housing form the cooled-air-receiving chamber.

9. A cooling unit for truck bodies as claimed in claim 5 wherein the first mentioned open side of the core con stitutes the rear wall of the housing and wherein the discharge openings of the fan chambers are in the forward side thereof.

10. A cooling unit for truck bodies as claimed in claim 5 wherein the first mentioned open side of the core constitutes the bottom wall of the housing, and

12. A cooling unit for'truck bodies; as claimed in claim 5 wherein the fanlchambers each have a removable front wall containing the discharge opening, a hanger of substantially. flattened V-shape secured in each'of said fan chambers, and a mounting plate seating on and removably secured to said hanger on which are supported the respective fans insubstantial alignment with the discharge opening contained in the removable front wall of each' fan chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,139,158 Boerries May 11, 1915 2,391,859 Babcock Jan. 1, 1 946 2,410,449 Kleist Nov. 5, 1946 2,538,660 Shreve Ian. 16, 1951 2,552,396 Brandecker May 8, 1951 2,573,684 'Binder Nov. 6, 1951 2,588,012 Kirkpatrick Mar. 4, 1952. 2,776,553 Williamson Jan. 8, 1957 

